


Delirium

by WhumpTown



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug, Malcolm Bright Whump, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 22:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20897267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhumpTown/pseuds/WhumpTown
Summary: Malcolm gets kidnapped and then falls into a freezing riverWhumptober





	Delirium

**Author's Note:**

> What do I offer to this fandom, you may ask?
> 
> Whump.  
So  
Much  
Whump.

He is gone three whole days before Gil grows so aggravated by Malcolm’s mother’s elusive answers that he goes searching for Malcolm on his own. He finds Malcolm’s apartment trashed, his restraints ripped from where they had been tied and things in such a mess that Malcolm would surely panic at the sight. Blinding rage consumes him. Three days. No one had heard from Malcolm for three days. Now, they’ve lost nearly 72 hours because Jessica won’t come off her damn high-

“Gil,” Jessica rolls her eyes, scratching at the red nail polish on her nails. “You know how he is. He’s just having one of his fits. He’ll come home, he always does.” Her own habits betray her. She scratches hard, actually bringing the nail polish off. She’s worried and Gil hasn’t got the time to play games with her right now. He sets his jaw and reminds himself to be patient.

He takes a deep breath, glancing at JT and Dani from the corner of his eyes. Rather than make a scene Gil uses his cop voice and smiles,” don’t worry about it, Jessica. I’ll have Dani and JT look into bank record, we’ll find him.” He turns his back on Jessica but stops. He bites down his anger,” I’ll find him. I promise.” He’s still on the job, he reminds himself. So, it doesn’t matter that this is Malcolm they’re searching for. He has to remain professional. 

Her reply is almost too soft for him to hear. Nonetheless, it comes as she looks around her son’s apartment. “You always do.” She brings her hands together, wrapping her fingers tight around one another to prevent any more nervous tics. Lest she is caught by someone more threatening than Gil and uses it against her. Uses it against Malcolm.

The ‘_call me if you hear anything_’ that they both share goes unsaid. It’s for the best when it comes to their testy relationship. 

“Gil?” Dani comes to stand beside Gil, closer than she usually does. Her behavior is off. It angers him that he can’t see straight through her as Malcolm could. He wants to snap at her. He wants to blame her but, really, he just needs someone to blame all this on. It’s not her’s. 

“Gil?” Dani touches his arm and it brings him from his thoughts. “What are we doing?” She looks just as lost as him and that scares him. In the years he’s worked with Dani nothing has ever scared her. He’d seen her cry once and that wasn’t even any of the times she’d been injured. It had been when they were given the case of a missing child. But, now, as she’s looking at him her dark eyes pinched…

“I don’t know.” The answer surprises even him and he brings a hand up to rub at his facial hair, obscuring their view of his mouth. He looks down at the ground and the frown deepens. He told Malcolm this place was a shit hole. Hell, the front door locks but Gil, himself, had managed to open the locked door just by jiggling the lock a little. He should have done more. “Stick to the original plan.”

He frowns,” we’ll find him. He never wanders too far.”

_“I’m 100%-”_ That’s what Malcolm had said, _100%_. Gil knew better, he always does when it comes to Malcolm but… He didn’t want to push, he just wanted him to solve the crime and go home. Be safe. Turns out, home isn’t safe. That’s on Gil. 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The worst part about dying is that he knows it’s coming. The room is too cold. It’s not a matter of air conditioning or heating but rather the fact that it’s below zero outside. The rather freezer like installation on the walls does not help this matter. Worse than that, he got kidnapped in his boxers and a shitty Hans shirt. If someone would have at least warned him before knocking him over the head he would have at least grabbed a jacket. Crooks are so inconsiderate these days.

“I used to have lots of snakes,” Malcolm talks to the corner. It’s the only friend he has since he woke up in this little icebox. Well, he thought it was an icebox. The low lighting and freezing temperatures is making really hard to think logically so… “Mom…” what was he talking about? “I miss her. My mom. I miss Ainsley, too.” He misses Gil too. Even Dani and JT. 

He especially misses Sunshine. She’s the only person who sticks around for it all. Who will feed her when he’s gone? No one but him knows she likes The Beatles, but only the White Album, or that her favorite show is House. No one else will teach her Broadway musicals or greet her at the door to by whistling Uptown Girl by Billy Joel. 

He shuts his eyes, burying his head in his hands.

His brain reminds him that he needs to stay awake but only as his head becomes too heavy to hold up. He’s hungry, funny enough. He’s pretty sure he learned in one of his college classes that he’ll eventually get cold enough that he won’t be hungry, his body will take his mind off of the ghrelin flooding his brain. It’ll focus on keeping him awake and alive. He kind of wants that to happen already.

“Gil?” He can hear footsteps, he can see the door in front of him opening and there they are. Gil’s right there. He’s wearing a cozy flannel jacket, a hat over his ears. He glares down at Malcolm. “Gil.... p-pl-please?” He’s so hopeful, he just needs the man to touch him. Gil always touches him so softly. Always meaningful and loving. God, he’s touched starved. 

He can’t even cry. He tries to reach out, pulling his body weakly across the floor. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I won’t, Gil. Please. G-Gil?” The older man looks enraged and Malcolm loses hope, his chest falling back to the floor. Gil told him not to talk to his father and now he’s being punished. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Dani?” Her silhouette is right there, close enough to touch. She touches him. Always gentle like he’ll fall apart in her hands. “Dani?” When she doesn’t even move closer, he collapses to the ground. “My fault. I’m sorry. Stupid.” He brings his fist against his head, smacking at the freezing flash. “Stupid! Stupid! Stu-” his eyes roll into the back of his head and thuds against the ground. 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“I think I found something!” Dani’s voice breaks through the bullpen, her feet hitting the ground a clear indicator of her excitement as she bolts down the hall. She’s got a paper in her hand, messy scrawled handwriting that Gil knows isn’t hers. “Bright was on to something.” She smacks the paper down, her hand mostly obscuring the text from Gil’s view.

She pushes it towards him, watching him as he pushes his reading glasses up his knows and regards Bright’s notes just as she had. They look like garbled nonsense. The man has awful handwriting. It looks more like morse-code than the alphabet. But, as she quickly found, he was creating a profile. 

“Do you know…?” Gil flips the paper around, motioning towards the swooping and curling mess.

Dani nods her head,” it took me a minute. Bright writes in a unique shorthand and by that I mean I don’t think he knows shorthand he just doesn’t know how to write.” She slips the paper out from under Gil’s hand. “What I do know is that he gave us an almost complete profile of our killer.” She crosses her arms, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips. Gil can’t help but smile too. 

Except, he smiles for a completely different reason. Over the years, Dani and JT had been integrated into his little family as well. He watched Dani grow, gave her room to become more self-sufficient, more confident. JT needed the opposite to be less cocky, more effective, still does. What he’s seeing now is… personal growth. Whatever is happening between Dani and Bright is none of his business. He’s stepping out of that one until it gets in the way of things and so far it hasn’t. 

Still, it’s kind of cute watching all kids get along so well.

“What does it say then?” Gil leans back in his chair, crossing his outstretched legs, and looking above his prescription lenses.

Dani smiles,” he’s on the river. Bright thinks he keeps his victims there for about three to four days. He watches them and once they break, when the solitude or the temperature gets to them he throws them in the river. He goes and gets a new toy.” Dani puts the paper down leaning over Gil’s desk,” and he repeats the cycle. No one’s gone missing...”

Gil leans forward,” which means-”

“Bright’s still alive.”

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

He wakes up with someone else’s hand gripping a fistful of his hair. He can’t find the strength to do more than dangle limply from the firm grip. “Come on you stupid bastard!” A boot kicks his back sending what little air Malcolm was taking in rushing right back out. He gasps as he struggles to keep forcing air in and out of his body. The grip on his hair doesn’t seem to care. “Walk!”

The hand moves, catching him before he falls over around the throat. He’s lifted like this to his feet. His body finally listens to his silent struggle and locks his knees, keeping him upright on trembling legs. The hand disappears and he stands swaying in with the gust of air.

A gun cocks, he can hear the hammer, the chamber-

“NYPD! Stop!”

Malcolm opened his eyes, he hadn’t even realized he shut them. Gil is right in front of him and Dani and JT are right beside him. He smiles, he knew they wouldn’t leave him. Malcolm's knees give out from underneath him. A gunshot rings out but Malcolm only feels the cool water around him.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“Come on!” Someone runs their hard, cold knuckles over his sternum. His eyes shoot open, body protesting the rub, and he chokes on the water in the back of his throat. A fist pounds, once and hard, against the right side of his chest and he’s able to bring the water up, choking and coughing. He’s picked up, leaned against someone’s warm chest. He pukes on their jeans.

“Hey, hey,” he raises his eyes to meet the owner of the hand slapping his cheek. He finds Gil. “Keep those eyes open.” Slowly, he gains awareness of his own body. He’s shivering, hard, but someone’s wrapped a plaid jacket around him. He’s not wearing his shirt anymore and if his body wasn't currently trying to spare all his energy he might blush. 

His eyes meet Dani’s, she’s standing over him and tugging a hat over his head. Which means he threw up on JT and he does smile at that. Because… well, because it’s funny.

“What are you smiling at, Bright?” Dani runs her hands up and down his body and her warmth actually hurts. He doesn’t try to pull away. He loathes himself for it but he’s touched starved and right now all he wants is a damn hug.

“Gil,” a beat cop runs up, he’s breathless and pink in the face. “The bus can’t get here. It’s going to slip on the ice.” He looks at the four of them, face pinched at the sight of JT’s vomit stained pants.

Gil sighs,” well, Bright, looks like your shitty eating habits are finally going to pay off.” He stands, knees cracking with protest. “Dani, go tell them we’re bringing him.” Gil brushes his hands off on his pants,” JT, help me get him up.”

Malcolm trembles in JT’s arms, not aware enough to really mind being essentially held by the other man. JT notices, he can feel Malcolm shifting between being aware and close to unconsciousness. His head rolling as he fights to keep himself awake. “Boss, I don’t think he can walk.”

“Is ’k.” Malcolm mumbles his head dropping to his chest.

“Bright?”

“Bright!” Dani drops to her knees, pulling Malcolm from JT to lay flat on the ground. His body twisting and jerking. “He’s having a seizure!” It’s over as soon as it starts, Malcolm coming to and puking pathetically to the side. It’s all stomach mucus and river water. He nearly lands in it, Dani’s well-placed hands keeping him from landing in it. “Gil, he really needs that ambulance.”

Gil doesn’t even think about it. He leans down and scoops Malcolm up, jogging him up when his head lulls dangerously away from Gil’s body. Dani fixes the blanket around Malcolm, tucking it around and under him, and then gently turning his head so he’s leaning against Gil’s chest. 

“I gotcha kid,” Gil holds his soaking wet body against his own. The feeling of Malcolm’s skin against his physically hurts it’s so cold. The water dripping stings as each droplet runs down his flesh from Malcolm’s hair and clothes. “I gotcha, stay with me.”

Those fiery blue eyes blink open and he can feel Malcolm relax in his arms. One of his shaky hands comes up and grips Gil’s shirt. “Th-Thank you, Gil.” He moves ever so slightly, barely shivering at all now,” I love you, too.”

Gil falters. “No. No. No, sappy bullshit, You hear me? You’re not dying. You’re gonna be okay.” The ground is rough and all of Gil’s focus is on Malcolm. Dying Malcolm so limp in his arms. “You’re okay, kid.” His face stings with tears that he hadn’t realized where falling. “I gotcha, kid.”

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Gil stays all night with Malcolm. He sends Dani and JT home, pushing them out the door when Dani hesitates a little too long. He makes a home out of the visitors' chair, his feet kicked up on the edge of Malcolm’s bed, and a book in his hands. 

Malcolm had given him it for his birthday. It’s a thriller, some murder mystery… maybe? He hasn’t actually looked at it much, just keeps it in his briefcase. Malcolm was excited when Gil opened it, he said he _knew_ Gil was going to love it. So far, he’s been right. 

“Gil?” 

Looking up from his book, he finds Dani. He frowns because he sent her away but mostly because she usually listens to him about these sorts of things. Which means either she didn’t listen or he didn’t sleep at all last night and it’s probably eight in the morning.

“Did you sleep at all?” She comes the rest of the way into the room, glancing at Malcolm’s still resting form. “You… You kind of look like shit.” She expected to be alone for at least a few hours this morning. Thinking that Gil would go home and change into clean clothes, at least take a shower. Looking at him now, the bags under his eyes deep and pronounced she’s not so sure. 

Gil puts his book down and runs both hands roughly over his face. He hadn’t slept since finding Malcolm’s apartment trashed and now he’s gotta worry about that too. He can’t send the kid back to that mess. Maybe Jessica will have thought about that, surely AInsely has. 

“JT’s on his way, right now.” Dani picks up Gil’s jacket, offering it to him. “If you meet him downstairs, I can call him-”

Gil shakes his head,” no. No, I can’t leave him. I haven’t been here once, so far, to see him when he wakes up.” Gil clears his throat and takes the jacket, throwing it over his knees. “He used to hate waking up alone so I’ll nap here. I’ll be here when he wakes up, just in case…”

After seeing his chart and stopping to listen to Gil’s frantic angered shouting, the staff refrained from using a sedative on Malcolm. They even gave him the restraints and found this visibly calmed the audience waiting for Malcolm. 

Dani accepts her defeat and sends JT a message, telling him to bring Gil a change of clothes and lots of food. Her own stomach growls and she yawns into her palm. Gil catches it and she hides her face. “What? At least I went home, Gil. I just… I couldn’t sleep.”

He shakes his head and offers her his jacket,” here. Take this and curl up on that chair-” He makes a face at her, it’s all eyebrows and it’s distinctly a dad like glare. She rolls her eyes. He rolls his back. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, Dani. Get some sleep.”

Gil doesn’t last much longer than Dani. Curled under her boss’ jacket, the sound of Malcolm’s very well working heart beating in the background, and she can’t deny how tired she is. Gil finally lays fully into the chair behind him. He glances at his book, wonders how he only managed to get 100 pages in the span of a whole night. He tosses it at the foot of Malcolm’s bed and lays his head back.

Malcolm wakes up sometime later. His father does not plague his dreams. His body is so exhausted that he sleeps dreamlessly. It’s a reprieve he hasn’t had in a long time. Instead, the unmistakable itch of an IV wakes him. He scratches at it and when he burns he groggily opens his eyes to rub the stinging wound against his leg.

He sees Gil. Malcolm hadn’t really thought about how old the man really is. His once jet black hair is peppered in greys, the grey’s nearly outnumbering the black. Even his goatee has seen better days. 

He misses Dani for a minute. It’s not until he realizes that Gil’s jacket really is moving that he sees a peek of her foot. She’s completely curled underneath it. He wonders how she’s made herself that small.

He closes his eyes and sinks back into his pillows. Hoping, wishing for another dreamless slumber.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not from New York. I only know what TV has taught me, that sometimes it's cold as shit. So, I just assumed there was at least one river in New York


End file.
